GINGERBREAD BûCHE DE NOëL

Gingerbread Bûche de Noël image

Give the classic chocolate Bûche a makeover with festive flavours of ginger, cinnamon, treacle and golden syrup and creamy butter icing

Provided by Cassie Best

Categories Afternoon tea, Dessert, Treat

Time 47m

Yield Cuts into 10-12 slices

Number Of Ingredients 15

Ingredients

50g butter , plus extra for greasing
50g treacle
50g golden syrup
2 balls stem ginger , finely grated, plus 2 tbsp of the syrup
4 large eggs
100g dark muscovado sugar , plus extra for dusting
100g plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
200g butter , softened
300g icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp ginger syrup, from the stem ginger jar
white pearl sprinkles , to decorate

Steps:

Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Grease and line a 20 x 30cm Swiss roll tin with baking parchment, then grease the parchment a little too. Put the treacle, syrup, butter and stem ginger in a pan, heat until melted and stir to combine, then set aside to cool a little.
Put the eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk using an electric hand whisk until light, mousse-like and doubled in size - this will take about 10 mins. The mixture is ready when it holds a ribbon trail from the beaters for 3 secs. Sift over the flour, baking powder and spices, then pour the melted butter mixture around the sides of the bowl so that it trickles down into the whisked eggs. Very gently fold everything together with a large metal spoon. When just combined, pour the mixture into the Swiss roll tin and ease it into the corners. Bake for 12 mins until just cooked.
While the sponge is cooking, lay a sheet of baking parchment, big enough to fit the cake, on your work surface and dust with a little sugar. Once cooked, tip the cake directly onto the parchment. Use a small serrated knife to score a line about 2cm from one of the shorter ends, making sure you don't cut all the way through - this will help to get a tight roll. Gently roll up from this end, rolling the parchment between the layers. Leave to cool like this on a wire rack to help set the shape.
To make the icing, put the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle, or use a plastic sandwich bag and snip off one corner to make a hole about 1cm wide. Unroll the sponge and drizzle the surface with 2 tbsp ginger syrup. Pipe a layer of ginger buttercream over the inside of the roll, then use the paper underneath to help tightly re-roll into a roulade. Slice off both ends for a neat finish. The Bûche can be frozen at this point - simply re-roll in the parchment, then in foil, and freeze. Defrost at room temperature before continuing.
Place the Bûche on a serving plate or board. Use the remaining icing to pipe a thick layer over the top of the sponge, zigzagging backwards and forwards to create a tight concertina pattern. Decorate with white pearl sprinkles, if you like. The Bûche will keep in a sealed container for up to 5 days, or can be frozen for up to two months.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 380 calories, Fat 19 grams fat, SaturatedFat 11 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 48 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 42 grams sugar, Fiber 0.4 grams fiber, Protein 3 grams protein, Sodium 0.5 milligram of sodium